Oxfordshire Street Light Plan May Be Localized

A proposal to deactivate street lights throughout Oxfordshire might be determined on a “settlement by settlement” basis, as opposed to a uniform county-wide approach. The county council had put forward a scheme suggesting that the majority of its 60,000 street lights would operate solely from dusk until 23:00 and from dawn until 06:30. This initiative was projected to yield annual savings of £400,000. The formal approval of a framework for this plan was scheduled for Thursday; however, the decision was deferred on Wednesday following the submission of petitions signed by thousands of individuals who opposed the proposal. Pete Sudbury, the council’s deputy leader, stated that the requirements of local communities would be taken into account, and he characterized discussions regarding potential cost savings as a “red herring.” He informed BBC Radio Oxford: “Having lights on all the time is not great for human health. It’s much better if it’s really dark when you’re asleep and it’s really bad for wildlife, particularly insects,” adding, “We need to make sure that the lights are off when people aren’t around. And that, it seems to me, needs to be done almost settlement by settlement.“About a third of the letters I’ve had or emails I’ve had have been in favour of turning lights out, with two-thirds against… It needs to be done well.”” According to the council’s proposed scheme, lighting in alleyways, pathways separate from main roads, subways, and areas where they highlight road features such as speed bumps would remain active throughout the night. Matthew Barber, the Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner, expressed his concerns about the proposal last week. On Wednesday, he reported that a petition he initiated to oppose the plan had garnered 1,000 signatures. Dr. Sudbury indicated that the council would be required to re-examine previous collaborations with the police. He stated: “Our officers did work with the police and we thought we had agreement on how it would work and so we need to go back and work with them.“We also need to work with women’s groups and groups that are concerned about crime and make sure that it works.“Every single community may have very different times that things work at. It depends on when the last bus is or when the pub closes, that kind of thing.”” You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.